Fix Me A Snack

What: Whole Cow Milk Greek Yogurt

Where: Sweet Pea Farm, North Granby, Connecticut

How much: $5.00 for 16 ounces

This category of yogurt from this particular farm needs to have it’s own special name. A worthy name would be something like “Sweet-Elixir-of-Life Yogurt”. When I first tasted it my eyes popped in surprise and then a big smile spread across my face. It reminds me of creme fraiche more than yogurt. It is tart, sweet, creamy, rich, smooth, and utterly sublime.

My husband is of the opinion that it needs no additional sweetener. Eaten plain, the level of tartness reminds me of Siggi’s. With a small swirl of honey on top, the yogurt really sang for me. This is food that grabs you and takes you to your happy place. If you live far away, consider funding a trip to northern Connecticut just so you can taste it.

Any one else know of a diary that makes Greek-style yogurt with whole milk? You could try recreating it at home. The farm uses their own pasteurized (i.e., extremely fresh and not ultra-pasteurized) whole milk to make yogurt. Then they hang it in a few layers of cheesecloth over a bowl for 1 1/2 hours. They feed the leftover whey to the pigs. But you can also use it in breadmaking. I know all of this because I took a cheesemaking class with the Hayes daughters a few weeks back and grilled them for the details.

This post is a part of a series of 101 ways to eat plain yogurt. (Keep scrolling down after you click on link to see the entire list.) For more information about yogurt in general, go to my Yogurt page.

46. Yogurt Salad

This recipe is inspired by one by the same name in Seductions of Rice‘s Afghanistan chapter. It reminds me of a mellow and more colorful tzatziki. Upon first tasting it, all I could think was how lovely it would be beside a hunk of roasted lamb.

1/4 cup coarsely grated peeled cucumber
1 small radish, coarsely grated
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, stems removed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, stems removed
1 small scallion, top and bottom removed and finely sliced
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup cottage cheese
Pinch salt
Dash pepper

In a small bowl, combine the cucumber, radish, parsley, dill, scallion, yogurt, cottage cheese, salt and pepper. Serve.

47. Sweet Saffron Yogurt

Oh my word…I had no idea how captivating saffron is. Thank goodness I was desperate enough to come up with yogurt concoctions that I finally ponied up the cash. Wow.

The inspiration for this recipe came in part from Ino at Kitchen 22.

1 teaspoon milk
5 threads saffron
1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons cottage cheese
2 teaspoons sugar or honey
Dash ground cardamon
A tiny pinch of salt

Put the milk in a very small bowl and heat it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Add the saffron and allow to soak for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the yogurt, cottage cheese, sugar, cardamon, and salt together in a small bowl. Add the milk-saffron mixture and stir well. Cover and refrigerate for one hour or more. Stir again before serving.

48. Lemon and Honey Yogurt

This yogurt would be even more lovely with juice from a Meyer lemon if you have one.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, honey and juice until smooth. Serve.

49. Garbanzo Bean Yogurt

I never would have had the nerve to pick up these fresh garbanzo beansat the grocery store if I hadn’t seen Darienne’s post about them over at Cook Play Explore. The beans are delightful on their own, but of course I had to throw yogurt into the mix. They complement each other very nicely.

If your family normally rejects canned garbanzo beans these are certainly worth a try as the taste resembles a fresh pea with a hint of garbanzo. Just call them fresh chickpeas instead. The yield for this recipe is about 1/2 cup. If you’re feeding a crowd, double or quadurple it as necessary.

1/3 – 1/2 cup shelled fresh garbanzo beans
1 -2 teaspoons olive oil
Small pinch fine salt
1/4 cup plain yogurt
Dash ground cardamon
Dash garlic powder
Dash ground cumin
Dash ground turmeric
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped fine (optional)

Heat a small saute pan over medium heat. Pour in the oil and garbanzos. Saute for approximately 5 minutes or until garbanzos have turned a vibrant green. Sprinkle with salt. Stir, remove from heat, and allow to cool in the pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, cardamon, garlic powder, cumin, turmeric, and parsley. Top the yogurt with the beans and serve.

What to do with leftover bread crusts from Cooking During Stolen Moments.

How to Make Yogurt (and Creme Fraiche!) from Comfy Belly.

Peanut Butter Graham Crakers from Serious Eats.

I believe I have achieved my own version of Cracker Nirvana. It all started with a Cheddar Crackers recipe mentioned by The Kitchn. The original recipe is exquisite, but the crackers are a tad greasy, especially after 24 hours. My version of this recipe keeps longer and I’m not as likely to eat them all immediately after they come out of the oven.

This is a huge post for me because crackers used to constitute a large part of our snacking diet. Over the past year and a half I’ve been buying crackers less and less. At this point, they are a genuine treat for us. Even though my preschooler still pines for Goldfish occasionally, it feels terrific to have reformed our snack diet so thoroughly. With this recipe, I know exactly what’s in there and we recognize them for the treat that they are.

The picture below is my latest batch without the paprika. While I love the color and taste the paprika imparts. I was getting the sense that my kids were not so crazy for it. It took me a while to figure this out because I was more than happy to eat them all myself!

Here’s what they look like with the paprika:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more for sprinkling on top
1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional)
Dash pepper
1 1/2 cups grated white sharp cheddar cheese (3 ounces)
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (1 ounce)
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
3- 4 tablespoons cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the flours, cornmeal, salt, paprika (if desired), and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds. Add the cheeses and pulse for 10-15 seconds.

Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized chunks and distribute over the top of the flour mixture. Run the processor for 10 seconds or until the butter is mostly incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

With the processor running, add the water one tablespoon at a time through the feed tube. Continue to run the processor until the dough starts to lightly clump up or form into a ball (about 30 – 60 seconds).

When I first started making this recipe, it always formed into a ball without much hesitation. But lately, it’s more likely to look like the picture above. Maybe it’s the weather. Or the cumulative changes I’ve made to the recipe are having an effect. Regardless, if when you take a bit of the dough out of the processor and give it a squeeze it looks like this, you’re all set:

If it doesn’t add a little more water and pulse until it does.

Remove the dough from the processor. Divide it in two and knead a few times. Form into flattened rectangles and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place the rectangles in the freezer for 10 minutes (or thereabouts) or in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. If you leave them in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight, let the dough sit out on the counter for 10 minutes or so to soften.

Remove plastic wrap and place rectangle in the middle of a non-stick baking mat or sheet of parchment paper. The baking mat is much easier, but it can be done with parchment paper. Roll the dough out evenly until it is less than 1/8″ but more than 1/16″ thick – not paper thin but close. Miraculously, the dough doesn’t require any flour to keep it from sticking.

Cut the dough into 1″ squares. I use a lattice cutter, but any ol’ dull edged knife or pizza cutter will do. Carefully move the baking mat or parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle the dough lightly with salt. (The squares do not need to be spread apart as they shrink and puff up during baking and are easily broken apart afterwards if they do not separate on their own.)

Bake for 17-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough, or until bottoms of crackers are puffy and golden. Start checking on them often after 15 minutes. The crackers on the outer edge may brown more quickly if you rolled your dough unevenly like I always seem to do. Don’t stop baking until the outer crackers are shy of burning in order to be sure that the crackers in the center have a chance to crisp up properly. Check the bottom of the crackers to gauge how close they are to being done. They should be golden. I’ve been known to remove some of the crackers from the baking sheet in order to save them from burning and put the rest back in the oven for a few more minutes.

Allow crackers to cool on the baking sheet or on a cooling rack. Store in a airtight container at room temperature. They keep fine for at least 3 or 4 days.

Yield: approximately 100 crackers
Prep-time: 30 minutes
Bake-time: 20 minutes

This post is a part of a series of 101 ways to flavor plain yogurt. (Keep scrolling down after you click on link to see the entire list.) For more information about yogurt in general, go to my Yogurt page.

37. Date Yogurt

Feel free to use all or none of the garnishes suggested. This yogurt is subdued, but still worthwhile, without all the fancies.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 generous tablespoon date butter
Dash cardamon
Mandarin oranges, for garnish
Chopped unsalted shelled pistachios, for garnish
Honey, for garnish
A few grains of salt (kosher or Maldon), for garnish

In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, date butter, and cardamon. Garnish with oranges, pistachios, honey, and salt. Serve.

38. Spicy Banana Rice “Pudding”

This surprisingly lush yogurt treat is sweet with a faint hint of spice and heat. It could be described as a lazy rice pudding with a more complex flavor profile. It is also a great way to use up overripe bananas and leftover brown rice. I love snacks that are scrumptious and use up ingredients that would have ended up getting thrown out.

1/2 medium ripe banana. peeled
Small pinch mustard powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened dried coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt
Small pinch turmeric
3/4 cup plain yogurt
Tiny bit of cayenne powder
3/4 – 1 cup cooked brown rice, warm or at room temperature

Place the banana, mustard powder, coconut, salt, and turmeric in a small mixing bowl. Mash the banana well with a fork and mix well. Add the yogurt and the cayenne pepper. Mix well. Add the rice and mix to coat. Serve at room temperature or a little warm. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

39. Avocado Yogurt with Fresh Mango

@AnitaBlanchard mentioned recently that her kids love avocado smashed up with yogurt. Sounds like a great snack for the toddler set. And the fresh mango gives it a little extra somethin’. Thanks Anita!

1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 of a ripe Haas avocado
1/4 cup of chopped fresh mango

Mash the yogurt and avocado together in a small bowl. Top with mango. Serve.

40. Vanilla Pudding Yogurt

This recipe was inspired by The Complete Book of Yogurt by Shaun Nelson-Henrick. I used some hippy dippy vanilla pudding mix that I happened to have in the cupboard.

The best part about this recipe is we got some good use out of the eggbeater! The finished product looks a little bumpy in the picture below because we used some homemade Greek-style yogurt that was strained for longer than it should have been. If you use store-brought, it will be as smooth as silk.

1 3.5 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon honey (optional, especially if using a sweet topping)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

In a medium mixing bowl, prepare the pudding mix with only 1 1/2 cups of milk according to package directions. Add the yogurt, honey, and vanilla extract. Serve topped with fresh fruit, sprinkles, or a dash of cinnamon. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Makes 2 1/4 cups.

41. Avocado Tahini Dip with Baked Tortilla Chips

The Baked Tortilla Chips recipe is from the Food Network Kitchen. They were probably my kids favorite part of this snack. The dip is a little more curious. But if you like tahini, avocado, and yogurt it might be your new favorite dip. 

Adapted from Mollie Katzen’s The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.

1 ripe Haas avocado, pitted
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup tahini
1 cup plain yogurt
Generous pinch salt
2 scallions, ends removed and chopped
1 medium clove garlic, smashed and chopped

Place all ingredients in a the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Place plastic wrap on top of dip to prevent browning. Makes about 2 cups.

42. Pomegranate Yogurt with Mandarin Oranges

I just noticed pomagrante molasses at my local Whole Foods not too long ago. Of course it cost half as much as I paid for it online. Win some, lose some.

This should have fresh pomegranate seeds scattered over the top, I know. It would be so lovely. But I really don’t understand how I, much less my kids, are supposed to eat those suckers whole. The seeds get stuck in my teeth.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
Dash cardamon (optional)
Canned mandarin oranges, for garnish

In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, pomegranate molasses, and cardamon until smooth. Top with orange segments. Serve.

43. Pumpkin Yogurt with Honey and Balsamic

My preschooler totally ate this. And she liked it. She’ll eat almost anything if she’s actually hungry, which happens about twice a month, and nothing if she isn’t, which is all the time. The yogurt is a little weird, but if the balsamic is the intensely sweet and fruity variety, it’s a pleasant surprise.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon canned pumpkin puree
2 mini muffins or 1/2 of a regular-sized muffin, crumbled
Honey
Aged balsamic vinegar

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and pumpkin until smooth. Place crumbled muffin bits in a serving bowl. Top with yogurt mixture. Garnish with honey to taste. Splash on a few drops of balsamic, if desired.

44. Banana Date Yogurt with Oranges

1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 overripe banana, mashed well
1 tablespoon date butter
Dash cinnamon
Chopped orange or canned Mandarin orange segments

In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, banana, and date butter. Top with cinnamon and oranges. Serve.

45. Banana Vanilla Yogurt

We used to got through lots and lots of Stoneyfield Farms’ Banilla Yogurt. Love that stuff with some fresh fruit and granola. Anyway, this tastes nothing like Banilla. I think it might be even better. It’s even more amazing because there’s no added sugar.

1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 medium ripe banana, mashed well (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, mashed banana, and vanilla. Serve.

Meeting children’s nutritional needs without vegetables (titled: 10 Nutrtion Must Haves for Picky Eaters) from Raise Healthy Eaters.

Helping Kids Eat More Fruits and Vegetables from Suite 101.

Snacking and the Nutrition Zone Mentality from It’s Not About Nutrition. Excellent stuff here!

Make Your Own Yogurt  from Cook Play Explore.

Date butter is not something a lot of folks have probably made before. Turns out that it is super easy and has a surprisingly pleasant taste. It’s plenty sweet, but much more mellow than white sugar because there’s still so much of the date left in there. I assume that means a lot of the dates’ nutritional goodness has stuck around as well, which is a bonus.

You will need:

6 ounces pitted dried dates (about 15-16 medium dates)
2/3 cup boiling water

Place the dates in a small saucepan. Pour boiling water over them, cover, and allow to sit for one hour.

After an hour, they look about the same. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Allow to simmer for 5 – 7 minutes or until it starts to turn to mush.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Put mixture through a strainer placed over a bowl using the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to push it through.

Discard the dry bits that will not pass through the strainer. Store the date butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I think this date butter would work wonderfully in place of the apple butter in my granola bars. I’ve also enjoyed some Almond and Date Butter Sandwiches as of late.

Yield: 3/4 cup
Active prep-time: 10 minutes
Inactive prep-time: 1 hour

Recently, I read Peggy Orenstein’s article The Fat Trap on the New York Times’ website. Here’s part of the opening paragraph of The Fat Trap:

Food is never just food. Food is love. Food is solace. It is politics. It is religion. And if that’s not enough to heap on your dinner plate each night, food is also, especially for mothers, the instant-read measure of our parenting. We are not only what we eat, we are what we feed our children.

Not only what we feed them, but how much we feed them. According to the article, ‘good’ parents these days are expected to have normal-weight kids. An overweight child, especially a girl, is viewed as a failure. Reading this floors me. It’s true, but I don’t want it to be, especially in my own psyche. I hate hate hate to admit it, but a lot of the worry I have over my daughter’s health is centered around how others see her and me as a result. I never wanted to be this kind of parent. But is it possible not to be?

Another thing about the article that hit home for me was the unrelenting internal dialogue Orenstein describes that includes eating, social pressures to grow your own organic carrots, body image, and being a model for her daughter. Just reading about the fact that someone else is conducting this balancing act blew my mind.

I’ve never put it into words before, but I try to be thoughtful about the way I approach food in front of my girls in a lot of the same ways Orenstein does. I never talk about growing food organically, but I do make it a point to enjoy my broccoli as well as my ice cream. I try to stay away from my own body image completely. But with the girls I soak up and point out their beauty and strength as often as I can.

Have any of you out there read Orenstein’s article? Reactions? Thoughts?

This post is a part of a series of 101 ways to flavor plain yogurt. (Keep scrolling down after you click on link to see the entire list.) For more information about yogurt in general, go to my Yogurt page.

This week I’ve decided to give you a bunch of ideas for flavoring plain yogurt based on cocktails. My husband went to bartending school back in the day. As a result, we have a small cocktail library. I dusted them off and set about to select those that sounded intriguing and whose names are kid-friendly.

30. Cape Cod Yogurt

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1-2 tablespoons cranberry sauce

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and lime juice until smooth. Garnish with cranberry sauce and serve.

31. Fru Fru Yogurt

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Banana slices
Chopped peach

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, sugar, and lime juice until combined. Top with banana and peaches. Serve

32. Pina Colada Yogurt

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon sugar
Fresh pineapple, chopped
Sweetened coconut, toasted

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and sugar until smooth. Top with pineapple and coconut. Serve immediately.

33. Hawaiian Breeze Yogurt

My kids love the vibrant pink color the yogurt turns once the cranberry sauce is mixed in.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1-2 tablespoons cranberry sauce
1/3 cup chopped fresh pineapple

Spoon the yogurt into a small bowl. Top with pineapple and cranberry sauce. Serve immediately.

34. Sea Breeze Yogurt

This was not as disgusting as I thought it would be. I actually ate the whole thing. But I might have sprinkled a little sugar on top first.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup chopped peeled and skinned grapefruit
1 tablespoon cranberry sauce

Place yogurt in a small bowl. Top with grapefruit and cranberry sauce. Serve.

35. Woo Woo Yogurt

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon cranberry sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh peach

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and cranberry sauce until combined. Top with peaches. Serve.

36. Fuzzy Navel Yogurt

 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup chopped fresh peach

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and orange juice concentrate until well combined. Top with peaches and serve.

Homemade Pancake Mix from The Naptime Chef.

Snacking and Your Child: Finding the Healthy Balance from Aimee at Simple Bites.

How to Make Homemade Yogurt from Small Notebook.

Essential Baking Books – a list complied by the James Beard Foundation. If you’re going to do sugar and fat, do it right! The number one book, Baking:From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is a thing of true beauty and I want a copy badly.